The art of the right distance

_ Foreword by Michael Kuhn, Head of Communications at the architects von Gerkan, Marg and Partners
_ Essay by Dirk Meyhöfer on architectural criticism in print media and radio since 1966
_ Interjection by Bazon Brock, why criticism makes sense
_ 50 architectural reviews from 50 years on buildings and projects by gmp
_ Architectural photographs by Marcus Bredt as visual architectural criticism

Changes, upheavals, and even shifts in discourse have shaped architecture in recent decades – like a seismograph, building culture reflects the rapid and profound upheavals of modern societies. The last 50 years have become a rapid cycle of architectural concepts and theories, whose sometimes convoluted paths architectural criticism has had to accompany as a medium for communicating architecture.

This publication explores and traces the changes that have taken place in this regard and what they mean for critics and architects, the media, and the public. "The Art of Proper Distance" documents the Hamburg architectural firm of Gerkan, Marg and Partners (gmp) as a consistent example. This firm initially wrote significant chapters in German architectural history at the end of the 20th century in Germany, but since the turn of the millennium, it has expanded its practice to the entire world.

The publication focuses on contemporary architectural photographs of 50 works from 50 years as a contemporary visual architectural critique, which are juxtaposed with contributions from print media from the respective periods of creation – “two layers of time that together raise questions about the spatial and temporal distance needed to adequately grasp architecture.” Michael Kuhn.